Music Camp
by xxdreamlessxx
Summary: It is the summer between Harry's year 4 and 5 at Hogwarts and he's stuck at the Dursleys. No one is happy about it but when Harry meets Coralie and Alan at a corner cafe near Privet drive he ends up in a music camp for the summer and doesn't want to leave
1. A Letter And A flute!

_**Music Camp By Little Lotte. **_

**Chapter one – A Letter and A Flute. **

**(Revised And Rewritten) **

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'_It's my life, It's now or never  
I ain't gonna live forever  
I just want to live while I'm alive' Bon Jovi – It's My Life_

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Harry Potter sat at his window and stared out at the sky as deep, dark blue faded in to light red and yellow shades. The sun rose and greeted the residents of Privet Drive with a new day. A day that brought joy for some, and pain for others.

For Harry Potter: It brought a whole new outlook on life.

A life he had decided he was going to take in to his own hands. Well, for this summer, at least. He was going to do what he wanted, and nobody was going to stop him. The first thing he had decided to do was to find a hobby.

Harry smiled slightly as he watched the shadows and the last remainders of the nighttime disappear. The teen glanced out of the window once more before standing up and stretching. He then looked around his room for a moment, eyes darting back and fourth as though he was looking for something, which he was.

Harry scowled thoughtfully when he didn't see what he was looking for but after a few seconds, realization dawned in his eyes and he smiled once more.

Harry walked towards his bed and crouched down, drawing a modern looking blue book-bag from underneath. In it held most of the thing he would need. Harry leaned over at opened the bag swiftly, checking that all of it's supposed contents were still there.

A wallet full of muggle coins and notes, a pencil and a piece of paper, a few sweets from Honeydukes, and most importantly, Hidden in a secret pocket that was almost impossible to find, his wand.

Harry shut the bag with an audible click and stood up carefully think about exactly where he should start with finding a hobby.

Now that he thought of it, he'd never really had a hobby before. Not a proper one.

Sure, he'd played a few instruments in primary school but he'd given up just before he went to Hogwarts. After all, Hogwarts didn't even have anything musical in it, except maybe the school song… And they hadn't even sung that in 3 years.

Harry sighed as he thought about all the good times he'd had playing music. The only good times Harry had in Primary School were the music lessons. The lessons with the only teacher who had seemed to like him, Miss Dolan. Harry smiled faintly in the morning light as he remembered one of the many music lessons he had with the young teacher.

"_No, Harry. It's a flat because it says so there see?" The red headed teacher kindly pointed to just beside the treble clef to show him where he had gone wrong. Seven-year-old Harry nodded to her and she sat back as he began the play the song again. His hands seemed to dance lightly and almost effortlessly over the keys as he played the introduction for the third time that day. _

_Freya closed her eyes and listened carefully as Harry played the song almost perfectly. She felt his glance at her a few times when he made simple mistakes but she kept her eyes closed. Harry decided to concentrate on playing as Freya listened instead of glancing at her ever few moments._

_As he stared at the piece of music in front of him in determination his hands seemed to move on their own across the white and black keys. He didn't realize that inside the song was tearing his music teacher apart…._

_Freya loved music. She loved anything to do with music:_

_The sounds, the way it made you feel… everything. She used music as a way to escape the stress of life. It was relaxing and made her forget about everything else. The only other people she knew who did that were adults. Adults who have money problems or other things on their shoulders… and yet… The young man sitting in front of her did exactly that_

_Used music to escape from life itself. It just wasn't right. Harry wasn't like the other children in the school. All they cared about was money and who was the best. Harry seemed much more mature than the rest of the school to her. Most of the other children she taught music to were because their parents had wanted them to learn but with Harry it was the other way around._

_His family didn't seem to give a damn about him. The headmistress had to write to the boy's family to tell them how good he was. It was sad, really. She watched him out in the playground sometimes. He seemed totally separate from the rest of the world. All alone and sad. _

_She opened her eyes and watched as he played the song she had let him choose.It was also that that made her mentally reach out to the small boy. She had brought in a book with songs from some musicals in it and asked him to choose one from it to learn. He had smiled and taken the book home that night to choose. He came in and they began to learn the song he had chosen and that's what they were working on just now. Harry had a look of sheet determination on his face as he played the song almost perfectly:_

_Learn to be lonely. _

_A song Freya loved but when she looked at Harry she saw that it shouldn't be him playing it; it should be someone older. Harry should be playing things like Disney, not proper musical stuff that he seemed to like so much, and especially not THIS song._

_Learn to be lonely… _

_How those worlds and that song seemed to suit Harry, in such a sorrowful way. She closed her eyes once more and felt her eyes burning behind closed lids. She felt a small tear trickle down her cheek as she listen to the eight year old play the rest of the song._

_It just wasn't right. She once again felt Harry look towards her and didn't open her eyes, hoping he hadn't seen the tear. She took a deep breath to steady her emotions but it didn't work. The song was still there. It was almost like it was taunting her for some reason. She opened her eyes and took her smart black glasses off to wipe her tears away. Harry turned around at that moment still playing and looked shocked at seeing her in tears. He didn't stop though. He knew that she would be embarrassed if he let her know properly that he had seen her cry. Instead he slowly faded the soft sad song and made it go faster until he was playing 'I'm A Believer!'_

_Harry had never played this song on piano before but he knew what every note was because he could play it on his flute. Once he got his hand positioning right he was fine. He looked back at his teacher and grinned at her and she stood up straight and laughed, lighting up her features of the face perfectly. Her eyes were still slightly red and puffy but she looked happy. And that was all that mattered then in Harry's mind._

_Nothing else._

_Only that. _

Harry sighed as he though of his music teacher.

She was the only person who had been kind to him before Hogwarts. She was the only one who ever looked out for him. The only one who had liked him and got to know him well. She had even defended him when the other teachers had said he was thick or stupid.

No-one knew that Harry only kept his marks in his tests down as low as he possibly could because his aunt and uncle would have been angry with him if he had got higher than his cousin, Dudley. And getting higher marks than Dudley wasn't exactly hard to do.

Miss Dolan had been the only one who had been there for Harry. The boy knew how much he had upset her when he had quit music but he had just given the excuse that he didn't like playing anymore, which a complete and utter lie. Harry knew she hadn't believed him, but there was no way for her to stop him from quitting.

The only thing she had been able to do was to insist that he keep his flute. The first ever instrument he had learned, in hope that one day he might return to it.

Harry sighed and looked towards his old battered pine wardrobe in the corner of his room. He hadn't touched his flute in years and he wondered if he could still play it.

All ideas of finding a hobby forgotten, Harry flung open the door to his neglected wardrobe and coughed slightly at the sheer amount of dust that had shifted in to the air at the action. He then began to dig beneath the old, still too large, hand-me-downs from Dudley until he found the small, gray case that he had carried with him almost all the time years ago.

Harry smiled sadly as he sat down on his bed, ignoring the mess he had just made from pulling everything out of his wardrobe. The 14-year-old teen brushed a hand over the top of the case to clean the dust away and glanced at the nametag on the front, noting the messy scrawl of a name on the front was his own with the same sad little smile on his face. How long it had been since he had last lost himself in the notes of a piece of music. Years since he last polished his flute with skilled fingers until it was gleaming…

Harry sighed. How could he have forgotten all about music? Harry's eyes traveled across from the nametag to the two silver clasps at the front of the case.

He wondered sometimes if he should have just lived as a muggle, being none the wiser that magic really existed…

It was a bit too late for that now.

Harry flicked open the case swiftly, not really thinking about what he was doing. He pulled the lid up and looked down, expecting to see the same, old, slightly bent, flute that the local council had given him…

Harry gasped.

Inside the case was lined with a soft blue material as it had always been. It shimmered in the morning light and reflected silver instead of blue.

But it wasn't the case lining that caught Harry attention it was the flute. The flute that was inside was not his…

It was gleaming silver, catching the sunlight perfectly and reflecting it so spots danced on the wall across the room. Harry stared at the flute, scared to touch it incase he woke up and found that it was all a very strange dream. He slowly reached over and opened the small compartment in the side of the case; checking the inside of the lid for a name.

_Harry Potter, Class M2, Miss Dolan. _

Harry's eyes widened as he noticed a small ornate cream and gold envelope in the compartment on top of his cleaning things. His name was on it in the slightly calligraphic writing that Harry instantly recognized as Miss Dolan's.

With shaking hands he drew the letter out and turned it over a few times. It took a few minutes for him to gather enough emotional strength to open the envelope and unfold the letter that was inside.

_Dear Harry,_

_I know this is probably most unexpected but I decided to write you this letter the moment you told me that you were not planning on carrying on with music. I am getting married at the end of this year, Christmas to be exact. I really want you to attend and wrote you an invitation ages ago but because of the school policies you would not be allowed to attend. Now that I find that you are no longer going to be my pupil it does not matter what the school says. It is up to me to invite you. Harry, I would like to invite you to my wedding on the 25th of December 2000. At 2 o'clock in the Premier hotel on Bridge street. Your formal invitation is this envelope too and I really do hope you will be able to come. _

_Before you panic I know that the flute is not yours, well it is now. The old flute you had has been binned and this one is for you, from me. I had planned to give you it at the end of the year, when I passed you on to another teacher but it seems things have been cut a little short and I have decided to give you this now. _

_I know that your family has never really cared for you properly, as the ways of love go. They never seemed to recognize the true talent you have, Harry. You deserve a better family than that. Because I am a teacher I am not allowed to give presents to my pupils. Once again, because of that daft policy. I was going to give you it just before the summer because then you would be no longer my student. Things have gone different though and that is why I am writing to you now. _

_My home address and telephone number are both on the back of your invitation and I would really like to keep in contact with you (The slave driver that I am!). My soon to be husband's mobile number is there as well, if you cant reach me through mine. Good luck with high school. And I hope to hear from you soon!_

_Love from,_

_Miss Dolan._

_(Not for much longer though!) _

Harry sat in shock for a few minutes after reading the letter for the second time. A few seconds later he felt guilt rise up inside him.

He had never even looked at his flute since the day he had left. He had never bothered to look, so he had never got back to her. He wedding was almost 4 years ago now and he had never even spoken to her since the day he had quit.

The one woman who had taken care of him had shown him that, even though he was giving up music, she still wanted to know him…. And he'd never shown it back. He'd never even thought that she'd want anything to do with him once he had quit her class. How wrong he had been… she'd even sent him an invitation to her wedding!

With numb fingers Harry folded the letter and placed it back in the envelope, not even bothering to look at the wedding invite he knew was there. It was too late now.

Harry then tucked the envelope back into the compartment and closed the lid on the small space firmly. If only he'd looked in to his case sooner! If only he'd really thought about the kind woman that he'd known. She would never simply forget him….

Harry slowly picked up the Body Joint of the flute carefully and looked for the makers mark. He almost dropped it when he found the mark.

On the side of the flute was an ornate D in gold surrounded by 2 rings, one gold and one slightly dulled silver. Denon; The best flute makers in the world. Harry ran his finger over the sign, checking that it wasn't an illusion. There were only 500 Denon flutes ever made and he had one of them in his hands. Denon flutes were known for their pure sound and great tone.

Harry slowly picked up the pieces of the flute and put it together on instinct. He could hardly believe that he now owned a Denon flute. His hand seemed to move on their own as he put it together with all the care he had. He only registered what he was doing when he reached for the last part of the flute and nearly dropped it in surprise as he looked at it.

On the side of the flute there was a small inscription in ornate gold writing:

_To Harry, _

_May music help you in your darkest hour… _

_From Miss Dolan. _

Harry felt tears rise up in his eyes and he swiped them away impatiently as guilt rose up in his again.

He slowly put the flute away. He hadn't the heart to play it anymore. The thrill of having a flute only few people had faded as guilt overtook him.

He quickly and quietly flipped the case closed and latched it shut. He picked up his blue bag as his determination returned and without really thinking much of it; he placed the flute in it also.

He then tidied up the mess in his room and left the house, knowing that if he waited until the Dursley's got up, there would probably be another shouting match between himself and his uncle; and he didn't want that. Not while his emotions were running high. Anything could happen if his magic got out of hand.

As Harry closed the front door behind him he thought over how his family had been acting over the last few weeks.

Aunt Petunia and Dudley had been rather quiet, while Vernon had been his usual self, though toned down a bit. He only really shouted at Harry when he was in a foul mood and Harry had begun to wonder if Dumbledore had said anything to them about Cedric.

No. Harry didn't want to think of Cedric. He was gone and Harry had forgiven himself for not acting quicker in the graveyard just before the term had ended. He didn't want to think of Cedric's death on a day as sunny as this. Nor did he want to think of the return of Voldemort. Full stop.

Harry made sure that the door was locked behind him and smiled. He had no chores to do today, because it was a Saturday, and he didn't need to be back in the house until ten that night.

So, Harry set off down the street, in hope of finding a hobby.

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Heya guys,

Sorry about the whole rewriting thing but I really wasn't happy with how the story was going and how I'd wrote parts of it, so I'm revising it and I'm going to try and check spellings and things this time. Last time I didn't and It's made me feel really bad about the way I'm writing this story. I have quite a few ideas but getting them on to paper is proving difficult so I'm going to redo it all and this is the first part REVISED AND REWRITTEN!

(The first few chapters are near enough the same, a little difference in order and info, but the others will be much more different I promise!)

Also, chapters will be replaced as I go along, the (Revised and Rewritten) bit will tell you that I have rewrote it.

I hope this doesn't put you all off but I'm trying to make it better and I'm going to make the chapters a little shorter so that I can work on my neglected, 'Let's Dance' as well.

If I get say… 4 reviews…I'll have the next chapter up for this story in 3 days time, latest.

Thank you all, and please stick with me!

Lil Lotte.

Review…i know you probably all hate me for this..but… please?


	2. A New Friendship, Perhaps?

_**Music Camp **_

**Chapter Two - A New Friendship, Maybe?**

**(Revised And Rewritten) **

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_You just never know until you try._

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Harry sighed and decided to have a break from his searching after about three hours of gathering leaflets and information from the Library, Community Center and Sports Halls as well as various other places.

He walked past the park and the small line of shops to the cafe that sat on the corner. His feet were aching and he desperately wanted somewhere to sit down, relax and perhaps look through the thick pile of information he had gathered.

It was a fairly small but cozy cafe, with full ceiling-to-floor windows and an ornamental stain glass pattered front door. It was exactly as he remembered it as Harry walked down towards the entrance. He had only been in the cafe once before, many years ago.

He opened the door and faintly heard a bell chime as he closed it softly behind him. He was surprised at the noise of the chatter that met his ears. The cafe was more crowded than Harry had ever seen it before in his life. Even walking past and looking in the window when he was younger, he could only see three or four people in at the one time but today almost every table was taken. Teens ranging from about eleven to seventeen sat around in small circles and cliques, chattering away to each other in such a ramble of voices that Harry couldn't make out a single thing that was said, as he walked towards the back of the cafe to one of the few empty sears and sat down, placing his bag under the chair so that it did not get stood on or knocked about.

He then picked up the small, decorative menu and was about to go about choosing something when he felt a shadow fall across the small table.

" Excuse me?" Harry looked up to see a girl about the same age as him looking awkwardly down at him. She had light brown hair that curled in corkscrews and fell halfway down her back neatly. As Harry looked her up and down discreetly he noticed she had the brightest blue eyes he had ever seen, with the exception of his headmaster. She smiled in a amiable but in a slightly strained way.

" Is this seat taken?" She glanced across the small table towards the empty chair. Harry blinked before shaking his head.

" No. It's free." He smiled at her and her own smiled widened a little. She made to sit down but hesitated.

" Do you mind if I - ?"

Harry shook his head once more. " No, no, not at all. Sit."

The girl sat down and place her bag under her chair in a similar manner as Harry had. She placed both hand on the table, wringing them together in an almost anxious way before glancing around and turning back to Harry.

" It's rather busy isn't it?"

Harry nodded. It was strange to be speaking to a muggle girl the same age as he. When he was younger Dudley had scared off most of the people who had tried to be friends with him and his summer holidays every year bar this year he had been swamped down with chores by his Uncle.

In a way, he was glad to have someone to talk to even if he didn't know them.

" It is rather busy." He confirmed, glancing around them. " There must be something going on.."

The brown haired girl nodded.

" Yeah, well, I'm here for the summer camp at Bell's.. Maybe that's why it's so busy. Erm - You can probably tell by my accent that I'm not actually from England."

Harry blinked slightly. How could he have missed the Scottish lilt to her voice? He knew why. Because he himself had a slightly Scottish accent, with quite a few of his friends at Hogwarts being Scottish and the villagers in Hogsmeade. And Professor MacGonagal... He had lost his English accent within months of being at Hogwarts. It was easy to blend in to the people you were around. Harry nodded to the girl, smiling slightly.

" You're Scottish?"

She nodded, smiling also.

" Yep." She tilted her head slightly to the side, thoughtfully. " You have an odd accent... No offense.."

Harry laughed lightly. " None taken. I live with my Aunt and Uncle during Holidays, here, but I go to a boarding school in Scotland... So the two accents kind of.. collide." He cringed at this and the girl laughed. A light, happy sound.

" Oh, don't worry. Your accent isn't bad, just... different."

Harry shook his head, his eyes sparkling with laughter.

" Is that an insult or an compliment?"

She blushed lightly and Harry laughed outright.

" I'm only kidding. I know you didn't mean anything by it." He looked down at the menu. He scanned it quickly before handing it over to the other girl.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before another young woman who looked to be only a few years older than Harry himself, though several inches taller, appeared by his elbow and asked to take their order.

" A strawberry milkshake please." Harry pitched his voice so that he could be heard over the din of the nodded to the girl sitting opposite.

" The same, please." She blushed, again, as the waitress scribbled something on her little notepad then fought her way back through the crowd.

" So.." Harry started, determined to break the awkwardness between them. Though he wasn't sure exactly why he was bothering. It was something to do with the almost feaful look in her eyes as she glanced around the room at the other teenagers. " You said you were here for some kind of camp?"

She smiled, showing perfect white teeth. " Yeah. It's on at Bell's theater - you know the one just around the corner?" She waited for Harry's affirmative nod. " Well, they do a summer - well - summer school thing. But it's all music-orientated."

" Really?" Harry raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

" Mhm." She glanced around once more. " Everyone that gets through the audition stays at the theater for three weeks of the summer, and at the end they put on a show, usually a famous play. I went to see last years show and it was brilliant." She fingered the edge of the tablecloth, as if her enthusiasm was some how offensive.

" So the auditions are today then? What are you doing for it?" That explained her fearful look. She was stuck in the middle of her competition here.

" Playing flute. Well, I think anyway - "

She hesitated and they were interrupted by a sudden outbreak of laughter from a group sitting at a table across the room. Harry sent them an annoyed glance then rolled his eyes when they lapsed into giggles once more. Typical girls.

" You were saying - You think?" He pushed her gently on.

" Well there's quite an audition process, and it changes every year. All we're told is that we have to be able to play at least one piece of grade four standard or higher, then be prepared to sight read, play or sing a piece of music supplied by the judge - and if we get through that theres another test, but that one changes every year and no one is told what it is."

Harry frowned softly. " That seems a bit unfair."

" It is. But thats the point I think - sometimes in acting and performing there are things you can't prepare fully for and things don't always have a definate plan.."

" I see what you mean." He nodded once, smiling politely at the stressed looking waitress as she placed their order on the table, then left again, in a whirlwind of checkered apron. Harry sipped his milkshake, examining the girl over the edge of his glass. She seemed nice enough, if a bit shy.

" I just realized - I haven't even asked your name, sorry. I'm Harry. Harry Potter." Her eyes flickered with something akin to recognition and for a moment Harry felt panic rise in his chest and his thoughts flew to what he would do if she was from the magical world -

" I'm Coralie. Simpson." She cringed slightly. " Though, please, call me Cory. I despise my full name." She sipped her drink. " So - you seem pretty interested in the camp - do you play?"

" I used to." Coralie didn't miss the sadness that tinged his smile. " I gave up a long time ago. I couldn't possibly play after all these years."

" Have you?" She questioned. " Tried - that is."

Harry shook his head.

" Well then how do you know?" She leaned her head on her hand, shifting a stray curl behind her ear with the other. " What instrument did you play?"

" Flute." And violin and piano and - Harry gave her a lopsided smile. " Are you nervous?" He changed the subject swiftly.

She didn't seem to notice.

" Well - Yeah. It's quite a big deal. Erm. I'm going to practice before hand though. The theatre is open for an hour before auditions start to give everyone a fair chance to warm up." She glanced at her watch. " It's not even ten o'clock yet and the auditions don't start til half eleven. Though.."

" You want to practice?" Harry glanced around the room. " You could probably just set up here. I doubt anyone would even notice." He eyed the group of earlier-giggling girls.

" No way!" Her bright blue eyes were wide as she glanced around. " Not here!"

"Why ever not? I'm sure you've played in front of a bigger audience before. Especially if you're past grade four." He added the last as a bit of encouragement but she just shook her head.

" But we're in the middle of a cafe. You cant just randomly get an instrument out and start playing -"

" Sure you can." Harry smiled. "As if anyone is going to care in this rabble. I doubt you'd be able to hear yourself. Though really, how on earth are going to get through that horrible audition if you can't play in front of others?" He hoped she would take the shun and turn it on him. He hadn't heard anyone play the flute in years.

" Fine!" Coralie huffed, pulling her bag up from underneath her chair. She then stood, pulling a folder and a hard black case from it, she opened the latter and began to piece together the instrument quickly but efficiently. Once ready, she hesitated for just a moment, before raising it to her lips and blowing one long note.

The cafe instantly went silent and Harry watched her hands tighten on her flute as she lowered it again, blushing harshly.

" I can't do this." She spoke directly to him, biting her lip as she shied away from the looks directed her way.

" Of course you can." Harry smiled. Crowds didn't scare him anymore. It was just a perk of being the boy-who-lived. Nothing much bothered you once your privacy had been ripped to shreds one too many times.

Coralie sat down and began to pull her flute apart. Harry sighed, and making a sudden decision, he stood up as well, but instead of leaving as he was sure she was expecting him to do, he too pulled his bag from under the seat and placed it on the table with an audible thump.

" Fine. If you won't play then I will." He pulled his case out of his bag, and began to piece the treasured flute together, fighting back the emotions the sight of it brought.

" I thought you hadn't played in -"

" I haven't." Harry sent a quick prayer up before raising the flute up to his lips, sounding out the same note as she had. Quickly, he ran through a simple octave scale. The fingerings felt a little awkward, but that was to be expected.

He smiled at her shocked look and completely ignored the whispers that broke out around them. He nodded once towards her folder.

" Any duets in there?"


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